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ock that were included in her mix. We shared earbuds as I
blew her mind with the latest eminem and Lady Gaga hits of
2010. I was pretty sad when she asked me to turn the volume
down on multiple occasions.
After the first day, our guides were asking us most of the
questions. This was actually the most stressful part of the trip.
Some of the questions were extremely direct and impossible
to answer honestly. "Do you have the gays in the US?" "Why
would Gadafi's people try to kill him?" "How many countries
have you been to?" We immediately tried to dodge these questions
and ask something about a statue we were looking at
or an aspect of Juche idea. I feel guilty for doing this because
they started catching on to our diversions, and I could sense
their disappointment that we weren't being very open.
I think one of the biggest mistakes I made was going to
sleep instead of accepting an invite to go bowling with my
guide and their friends at the hotel 'off the clock.' It was probably
one of the best opportunities I had to honestly interact
with my guides after a few drinks. We were so tired after the
DMZ that we crashed hard as soon as we got back to the
hotel.
The only car on the street was our own. Driving outside of
Pyongyang requires constant checkpoints. There are military
soldiers just standing along the road the entire way to our trip
to Kaesong near the DMZ.
they really hate the u.s.
By and large one of the biggest themes in DPRK is the universal
hatred for the United States. on billboards, on monuments,
eVeRYWHeRe. This is not a hyperbole. Watching
the informational video on the USS Pueblo (the US spy ship)
ended with " . . . and that's why we must annihilate the US Imperialists."
Awwwwkward.
The fact that we were Americans visiting the DPRK on
friendly terms made us "rebels," and we were the "crazy ones"
who came on a fact-finding mission to seek the truth about
north Korea. All of the Koreans we interacted with (not once
did I interact with a civilian) seemed to really appreciate this
fact and were thrilled to teach us about the DPRK.
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